Chapter 379
This is a kind of political wisdom that can avoid risks. When the road ahead is full of fog and risks, first reserve a few retreat routes for yourself. As for how many routes to leave, it depends on where the risks may come from.
Shelepin suggested that an investigation team be formed immediately. The team should be strong enough to show the importance of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection to this letter of complaint. At the same time, the team should appoint two deputy team leaders, but the position of team leader should be vacant temporarily, and the real way out lies in this position of team leader.
Don't think that the Central Supervisory Committee is a one-man show for Yuri, the chairman. On the contrary, the existence of four vice chairmen largely ensures the realization of the collective leadership form, and behind these four vice chairmen, they all have their own political positions and preferences. It's just that Yuri, as the secretary of the Central Secretariat, also serves as the chairman of the Central Supervisory Committee, which means he has a greater say. He can use the excuse of adjusting work to marginalize a vice chairman who likes to argue with him.
Now, this letter of complaint that will obviously bring about a storm is placed on Yuri's desk. He immediately formed a sufficient investigation team to show the outside world how much he values this matter. This is a politically correct performance that no one can find fault with.
Among the four vice-chairmen, they certainly have different views on how to deal with this letter of complaint because of their different positions. If the situation is not good, and Comrade Stalin or the party with the upper hand decides to magnify the issues involved in this letter of complaint, then he can appoint a vice-chairman who supports magnification as the head of the investigation team, throw the mess of Leningrad to him, let him deal with it himself, and he will also be the one to bear the blame in the future.
On the other hand, if the situation is stable and Comrade Stalin does not want to escalate the problem, then Yuri can appoint a vice chairman who is opposed to escalating the problem as the group leader and try to calm the situation down. In this way, even if Comrade Stalin later changes his mind and escalates the problem, Yuri can avoid the storm.
Doing so may seem very unreasonable and unpleasant, but Yuri can find a good excuse on this issue because he is a cadre promoted from Leningrad, and doing so is reasonable to avoid suspicion.
Political struggle is a war without bloodshed but more cruel than bloodshed. In this kind of struggle, it is normal to use any means necessary, and those who act on impulse will not have a good ending. After several years of experience after the war, Yuri is no longer the marshal who would rather die than bend. He has transformed into a well-deserved politician, well, or a statesman and party activist.
"Who is the most suitable candidate for deputy team leader?" Yuri asked again, agreeing with Shelepin's opinion.
"I think two people are the most suitable," Shelepin said without hesitation, "Comrade Vasily Trofimovich Bukharkin and I. As for the members of the group, we will write to the Supreme Procuratorate, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the State Security Committee, and they will appoint two or three representatives to form the team together."
Why does the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection have so much power but so little authority? Because in addition to the chairman and vice chairman, the members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection all work in the Supreme Procuratorate, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Security Committee, and the General Political Department of the Army and Navy. And this Bukharkin is a member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and also a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Yuri thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Go and draft the document. I will go to the Kremlin to report the situation and sign it later."
Since this is an event that is very likely to trigger a political storm, Yuri naturally cannot choose to conceal it. It is very necessary to inform Comrade Stalin as soon as possible so that he can understand the situation and make the initial decision. This is not only Yuri's job, but also a kind of protection for himself.
Therefore, Yuri, who had just returned to his workplace from the Kremlin not long ago, drove to the Kremlin again. Fortunately, he is now a member of the Central Secretariat and has the power to enter and exit the Kremlin freely, otherwise, he would have to wait in line to see him.
…
The Kremlin, Comrade Stalin's office.
Yuri sat on a somewhat hard sofa, the cigarette between his fingers was almost burnt out, the ash on the cigarette butt was half an inch long, but it never fell off. He was looking at Comrade Stalin behind the desk.
In the past two years, Comrade Stalin has obviously aged. His hair has turned gray, and his two vigorous mustaches are now covered with white frost. Especially his face, which originally had sharp lines, now looks much softer, although it seems a little swollen.
At this moment, he was sitting behind his desk, his waist that seemed a little hunched was being straightened deliberately, and his frown was extremely obvious under his gray hair, even through the light blue smoke from his pipe, it could be seen clearly.
After a long while, when Yuri put out his cigarette in the ashtray, Comrade Stalin finally put down the letter of denunciation in his hand. He took the pipe from his mouth, knocked it twice on the ashtray beside him, put it aside, and asked casually , "What do you think?"
After the question was raised, he paused, then added: "Regarding the issue of the anti-party activity group in Leningrad."
Yuri's heart sank. Having been with Comrade Stalin for so many years, he had more or less understood the other's habits. This determined leader, when asking questions, often did not want to get opinions or suggestions from the other party, but hoped to get answers that were in line with his ideas.
The two sentences he said are easy to understand if they are put together: What do you think about the problem of the anti-party group in Leningrad? In other words, Comrade Stalin did not ask whether there was an anti-party group in Leningrad, but asked him what Yuri thought of this anti-party group.
To put it bluntly, Comrade Stalin had already determined that such an "anti-party activity group" existed in Leningrad.
Yuri hesitated for a moment, then said carefully: "There are indeed some suspicious points about Kapustin, especially when he was studying in the UK, he may have concealed some information, and there is no..."
"No, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Comrade Stalin put his hand on the letter of denunciation, interrupted Yuri, and said, "All signs show that the problem in Leningrad is not just Kapustin or an anti-party group, but an anti-Soviet and anti-party group that leans towards the Tito fascist group, betrayed the country, split the Central Committee and the Leningrad Party organization, and shielded and encouraged traitors."
Upon hearing this, Yuri's head felt a little bigger, and he suddenly realized that he seemed to have underestimated the storm before.
The so-called "Tito fascist group" was initiated by Moscow after the deterioration of Soviet-Yugoslav relations last year, and was launched by the Intelligence Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties throughout Eastern Europe to launch a comprehensive struggle against the Yugoslav Communist Party.
The cause of this was actually that Yugoslavia, led by Tito, was unwilling to accept direct intervention from Moscow and was unwilling to copy the Soviet construction model in its entirety, which led to the deterioration of relations between Belgrade and Moscow.
Don’t think that the deterioration of Soviet-Yugoslav relations is a diplomatic issue between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. It is actually a dispute over the line, and it directly affects the entire socialist camp. In the past less than half a year, most countries in the socialist camp have experienced a bloody liquidation.
In Yugoslavia, Žujovic and Hebron, who were regarded as "pro-Soviet", were labeled as "enemies of the motherland and traitors" and were physically eliminated; in Poland, the old revolutionary Gomulka was labeled a "Titoist", removed from the post of general secretary, expelled from the party, and for the first time implicated, a quarter of the party members were purged; in Albania, the Secretary of the Central Organization and Minister of the Interior Kochi Zoze and others were labeled as "Titoists" and executed; in Hungary, five core party members including Politburo member and Secretariat Secretary Rajk were labeled as "Titoists" and executed; Kostov of Bulgaria, Slansky, General Secretary of Czechoslovakia, and many others, plus nearly 200,000 party members in Romania, were executed or expelled from the party.
This was a struggle that affected the entire socialist camp and was a catastrophe.
In the process of this catastrophe, there was a seemingly insignificant episode. In order to ease the relationship between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, at the beginning of the year, Yugoslavia sent a delegation headed by Milovan Djilas to the Soviet Union for a state visit. However, this delegation was absolutely coldly received in Moscow, and no heavyweights met with them.
However, no one knows what Comrade Zhdanov was thinking at the time. When the delegation left Moscow and headed for Leningrad, they were warmly received by the Leningrad Oblast and the city of Leningrad, and the two sides also signed a series of economic cooperation agreements.
This incident made Comrade Stalin very unhappy at the time. Later, there were rumors that there were traitors in Leningrad who provided economic intelligence that should not have been provided to the "Titoists" and betrayed the interests of the Soviet Union.
However, Comrade Zhdanov was still alive at that time, and although Comrade Stalin was angry, he did not intend to pursue the matter too much, and those rumors naturally did not cause much response. However, who could have thought that Comrade Stalin would seize this opportunity to bring up the old matter again, concluding that there was an anti-Soviet and anti-party group in Leningrad that betrayed the interests of the Soviet Union and tended to be "Tito elements"?
At this time, Yuri didn't dare to have any more small thoughts. He knew that this storm was not something he could stop.
